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A few months ago I was accepted to be a Google Glass beta tester through their #IfIhadGlass program. When I got the notification I immediately started singing. The much anticapated gadget is getting a lot of publiclty way before a release date has even been announced. I will admit that I was excited beyond belief, however I then started reading the fine print. Heres the thing that most of the Glass beta testers may not mention. To beta test a Google Glass you have to cough up $1500, and travel to either NY or CA to pick it up....Now at first I thought that I might be willing to do this. But after thinking about it, and realizing that I don't have any time free during the scheduled pickup times, I decided not to.

I mean seriously why would anyone pay over what the mainstream public will obviously pay for a device that is still in production? Then it sort of dawned on me. Who has $1500 and lives in NYC or CA? Gadget loving members of the tech media. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this isn't a real beta test, but it is hard to say that it isn't also a well orchestrated media blitz as well. And now some are starting to regret their involvement in the Glass beta test...

When I purchased my Glass I knew I had 30 days to decide if I wanted to keep or return it. The device has many charms, but in the end I didn't like peering at a small screen while looking up. And I simply wasn't dazzled. For that kind of money, I wanted to be blown away and I wasn't. I just wasn't.

On an unrelated note: You can buy a fully functional desktop PC for a lot less than $1500.

I know a guy that was selected as a beta tester and paid the $1600 in NY for his Glass . He then went and filmed an arrest and used social media and his inherent understanding of publicity to push the story. Google's YouTube carried the footage with advertising on his channel. The account is approaching $2000 in profit for the hits on this one story/video. Google has ultimately paid him for the Glasses so he has no out of pocket expenses. Meanwhile the story about the incident still circulates through every tech PR 6-8 you can think of with his company's name prominently displayed and linked in every article. He has 100s of valuable PR endorsements coming into his newly founded publicity company. Paid interviews are now being discussed with overseas networks and his stateside publicity for the product has only just begun.